I haven’t been able to post this before, as my soulmate, my best friend and the one in a lifetime dog has left my life.

17th July 2016 saw the loss of Bronte – she was put to sleep in mine and Wayne’s arms by Alice our vet, and a friend of Bronte.

She was walking and active for and still doing 2 hours walk until 2 weeks before she lost a short fight. She had cancer since the age of 18months and over the years I worried she wouldn’t make old bones but she did, she did it gracefully and never lost her spirit or her love of life…..

in the last two weeks, she just grew old and the time came.

I will never be whole again, but I will always have the love and the privilege of knowing her. Nearly a year on and I still cry at the thought of her…… my happy little Bon Bon x

Poor Bronte does go through it at times. She has just had ten lumps removed, I am still waiting to find out if they are all cancerous and if so what grade of cancer but I am pleased to say we hopefully got a good margin around them which should slow down the regrowth if there is any and she is happy and recovering well. She looks a state but we have told her she is still beautiful and people would only notice if we pointed them out so she is happy with that. She also received a lovely card through the post from her breeders wishing her all the best for her recovery so she knows she has a huge amount of love if nothing else.

You may or may not know that both myself and Bev from In Line Dog Training (www.inlinedogtraining.co.uk) have just completed a 5 day training, instructing and handling course at the Darlington Dogs Trust where we worked with a rescue dog each. The point of the course was to help the rescue dogs which have spent a long period of time in kennels to achieve the required elements of the British kennel club good citizen test to the bronze level. This will hopefully help make the dogs more attractive to the public but more importantly it gave the dogs some individual contact with a person and let them bond and above all made life a little more interesting from the kennel walls they normally spend most of their time. Unfortunately they now have to just hope a new owner is soon to be found. Both the dogs we worked with passed 10 out of 10 of the elements.If you want to help or support the dogs trust you can contact them at http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/searchcentres/darlington/default.aspxThe dogs looking for new homes are on the website if you want to see if they have found new homes yet. I had Holly a black collie cross GSD and Bev had Alfie a Collie cross

We have been offered a place and a chance to go to India to do a similar thing, we would be working with and advising people who work with animals to help improve welfare in rescue and welfare of street dogs in India. This is a once in a life time chance and it would mean leaving my girls and Wayne for a month but I can’t turn down the chance. The course is being run by John Rogerson( http://www.johnrogerson.com) John Rogerson is the founder and principal lecturer of the Northern Centre for Canine Behaviour is now widely acclaimed as the world’s leading dog trainer and behaviourist, having pioneered the majority of techniques that have now become standard practice in behaviour therapy and training. John is the author of no fewer than eight books, has produced two DVDs and has run courses on training and behaviour

John has kindly offered support in the raising of funds for the trip and I am happy to be able to offer one of his books which has been a must have on my shelf for many years and I still refer to it on a regular basisJohn Rogerson book ” In Tune With Your Dog”An owners guide to training and improving behaviour.

From the inside jacket cover: From the choice of a puppy and its early training, John Rogerson moves on to dog behaviour and the common problems that can arise – from jumping up and barking for attention to more serious problems like fighting and biting. He shows how, by understanding the cause of the problem, and learning to re-channel natural instincts, even the most anti-social behaviour can, with patience, be reversed. He shows how the most humane methods are also the most effective and how the process of training itself can be a pleasurable experience, strengthening the bond between owner and dog. Offering a fascinating insight into the mind of a dog, and a wealth of sound practical advice, this is an essential book for every dog owner – whether the animal is a family pet or a high-bred competition dog. IN TUNE WITH YOUR DOG will make for wiser owners and better behaved dogs – and a richer relationship between the two.

Sorry for the delay in blogs, it’s been a bit crazy here for the past few months. The arrival of nine little grey things, have sent the Meinweg household in a spin but at least it was a good spin.

Bronte has taken it all in her stride as she normally does. She got a little stressed by the sounds of the birth and the few days after, I think it was more what’s happening and can I be involved than oh my god what’s happening?

She had a great Christmas with lots of presents and a dog walk with her new doggy friends from the In Line Dog Training charity Christmas dog walk to raise money for a dog charity. Then the period when we had the pups came and passed and she got to meet all the people who came to view the puppies, I truly believe she was vetting them and checking them out to make sure they would be good forever homes and I pleased to say she liked all the people who had a puppy and was happy for them to take one. She then joined the charity dog walk again in May with the rest of the dogs and again was part of raising money for another dog charity.

Well it doesn’t seem much for about six months but lots have happened, she is a pleasure to live with, she is such a good girl when in the house or out and about. She is my take anywhere and show off dog and I am never happier than when she is by my side, everything else is just a bonus.

Bronte has spent the morning with In Line Dog Training, she came to work with me to demonstrate her lovely heal work after class for a friend who is having a bit of a bad time at her training club, She wanted a bit of extra training which both myself and Bronte where only too happy to help. We decided whilst Bronte was there she may as well demonstrate some of the exercises we train, she is my demonstration dog after all……..famous last words! She wouldn’t do the stop, she didn’t really want to do the retrieve and as for demonstrating jobs for dogs, forget it! She enjoyed herself bless her, I just laughed it off and the group thought it highly hilarious.

We did manage to get her to work in the end and she did it well and as for the reason she was there, her heal work was perfect, so it all ended well in the end.

It’s been a very busy summer for the Meinweg family. Kira has spent her time getting used to her new found eye sight, Moss has entered many working tests and Bronte has had to keep them all in check. I’m not sure when she felt this was her job but she is like the mother hen, she worries when things happen like a yelp from one of them if we tread on a foot, or backs one up if a rogue dog enters our pack. She is so sensitive and worries about everything but she does it in such a way that you somehow feel safe when Bronte is around. She is my pride and joy. I know I shouldn’t have favourites and in a way I haven’t, I have three very different temperament dogs and love them all but Bronte is my special girl and I know there never will be another one like her and for that I value and enjoy every moment with her.

Bronte has attended nearly all the working tests I have entered with Moss not as a competitor but has the support team. She has enjoyed walking around the ground and meeting the other people; she has especially enjoyed the cooked food from Wayne’s camping stove. She’s really really enjoyed the ice cream that he brought them on one of the tests as an ice-cream van drove into the ground!

We have entered her into a few of the game fare events, she enjoyed making people laugh as she breaks land speed records getting to the fallen dummy only to stand there looking at me then it then back to me now yelling fetch it as if to say…..”But it’s not a bird, why would you possible want this manky old thing, and anyway look at the people all laughing at me?!!!!” but she enjoys it so we enter her. We did discover one of the events that she was very very good at……Lurcher racing! I have tried over many years to stop Bronte chasing hares if she ever comes across one in the fields but to no avail, whilst waiting for me and Moss to finish at one of the stands she was sitting with Wayne and Kira when she noticed the very strong elastic band bulling around some tatty old rag which looked just like a hare running very fast! She wanted a go, so we stood in line with the greyhounds, long dogs, lurchers and whippets. We did get some very funny looks and a few sarcky comments, but we paid our money and waited for our go. The tree dogs before where very fit lurchers and obviously well used. They all gave up the chase half way round. The man introduced us to the crowd, and he did have a bit of a giggle when he saw a gundog approaching, but when the man in control of the moving rag couldn’t make it move fast enough and it was only around the last bend that the rag got away I think the crowd, the control man and the man on the mike all took back their words and was very impressed. She was so fast and determined to get that “Hare” that had been running past her for the past 30mins. Needless to say I had to drag her out of the ring and the crowd laughed so loudly that Bronte was in her element, all these people looking at her, she had a spring in her step the rest of the way round and people kept stopping and stroking her asking if she was the dog in the lurcher ring. I was very proud, that’s my girl.

Another part of Bronte’s summer is helping myself and Bev in our new venture www.inlinedogtraining.co.uk Bronte has been used as a distraction dog, helping us in our one to one training on a couple of occasions. Because of her calm and gentle nature, she is able to come along and play whatever role we ask of her. She has been a distraction dog, for help with a recall problem where the other dog is obsessed with playing with dogs rather than its owner. We give the owner training then get them to put into practice what they have learnt, Bronte is used as the distraction and because she is the way she is she never bothers with the other dog just concentrates on her handler at the time, whoever it may be.